Instinct
by morgana07
Summary: Set after the end of 14x2 Gods and Monsters to give a little closure to the reunion after Sam is reunited with Dean at the end of that episode. (Schmoop, brother moments. Short fix)


**Instinct**

 **Summary:** _Set after the end of 14x2 Gods and Monsters to give a little closure to the reunion after Sam is reunited with Dean at the end of that episode._

 **Tags:** _Set after 14x2 Gods and Monsters so it could be considered tagged._

 **Spoilers:** _A few if you haven't seen the episode yet._

 **Warnings:** _None really._

 **Author Note:** _A friend asked for a bit more closure or some schmoopy brother moments for the end of the episode. I don't do short well so I hope this came out well._

 **SPN SPN SPN**

"Sammy."

"D-Dean? Is that you?"

"Yeah. It's me. He's…gone."

"What? Why? Where'd he go?"

"No clue. I've got nothing. I…it was like I just woke up and heard you."

Sam Winchester knelt down near where his older brother was sitting slumped near a pillar in the old ruined and run down building where the AU Archangel Michael had been experimenting on various monsters. "Are you okay?" he asked even though he knew how stupid the question was. It was more the snort and eyeroll it earned him that Sam had been looking for.

"Of course I'm not okay," Dean snorted, looking up to see Sam watching him closely while their mother and the AU Bobby Singer hovered nearby as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. "I…I think he's gone. I can't hear him or feel him like I did but…what if it's like Bobby just said to Mom. What if he's using me to get you close so he could…"

"No." Sam replied with more certainty than he'd felt since this nightmare had started. "No, I don't think he is. I think he did leave you and I think he chose to abandon you as a vessel once he thought his new hyped up werewolves had torn me, Mom and Bobby to shreds. He figured you'd be the one to find us…"

"Find you." Dean murmured, glancing down at his hands before flicking his eyes back up to Sam's eyes. "Sammy."

Instincts were humming. Sam knew what he wanted to do so badly and he suspected by the way he noticed Dean's fingers moving restlessly over knee as if feeling the material of the unfamiliar tailored slacks but suspected there was more to it than that.

"Mom?" Sam called without looking back, needing to keep his eyes on the face of the brother he didn't think he'd see again. "You and Bobby go and give this place a once over to be sure there's no leftover monsters or that there's nothing left we could use or that might come back to bite us in the ass," he said while hoping neither argued or questioned him. "I'm going to give Dean a chance to catch his breath and then I'm taking him home."

Mary had seen Bobby start to argue, to object that leaving Sam alone with his brother this soon might not be a good idea. The hunter in her tended to agree given that they had no way to gauge what had happened to Dean or with the Archangel but the mother in her seemed to understand what was behind her youngest son's request because she'd seen it that day in that AU world when her boys had been reunited.

"Be careful, both of you," Mary said as her way of agreeing to Sam's request. "Sam, make sure on the drive back to Kansas that you stop and grab something for you both to eat. Who knows how long it's been since Dean's had food," she went on in a tone that was pure mother, keeping her touch light when she touched Dean's face; feeling him tense but it was the way Sam tensed out of the corner of her eye that gave her all the answers she needed. "And Dean? Once you boys are back in Kansas and you've had a chance to adjust, sleep, shower…make sure your brother shaves before I get back."

That simple comment reminded Dean that he might not have given his brother a good enough look but before he could he swore he heard Sam mutter something under his breath too low for their Mother to hear but not the grizzled older hunter who slapped Sam upside his head with a muttered 'Idjit'.

"What's up with them since I've been gone or don't I want to ask?" Dean asked, standing slowly and wondering if he really did feel like a worn dish cloth when he felt himself sway a little more than he liked only to feel a strong hand grip his shoulder.

"No, I really don't think you want to ask because if you think it was bad thinking about our Bobby and Jodi Mills then just try not thinking about it when it's our Mom." Sam replied with an inward cringe, lips curving at the low oath he heard but waited to hear a door close from outside the main room which told him that he and Dean were alone.

"Yeah, I could do without that image, little brother," Dean muttered and vowed he'd have to Castiel wipe his mind of even the hint of that image. "Mom and Ketch were bad enough without thinking of that Bobby flirting with our Mother," he reached up to touch the hand that was still gripping his shoulder. "Hey, Sammy."

Swallowing the lump in his throat at hearing that name, the one nickname he'd allow and only from his brother, said in that deep, husky tone that Dean only used when it was them alone or when Dean wanted to offer support but wasn't sure how, Sam looked at Dean for a brief second before giving into the basic instinctual reaction that had been the norm for Sam for as long as he could remember and he reached out.

Expecting the move, Dean stepped forward the inch that separated them to tug Sam into his arms for the full, tight hug that every part of Dean had wanted to give his brother the second he stepped through the doors into this room to see Sam.

Expressing and showing emotions had been the one thing that Dean had been taught not to do but had learned ways around when needing to show support to Sam when growing up. As an adult he knew he still had those issues but with Sam, especially if one of them had been injured or they'd been separated for any amount of serious time, the older Winchester knew what had to happen before either of them would feel comfortable and the second Sam had gotten their Mom and Bobby out of the room he expected his brother's next move.

"God, I thought we'd never find you." Sam's voice was shaky, feeling the arms around him tightening which he took as silent permission to hold onto Dean tighter as the fears he'd been battling since that day in the Church began to pour free. "I thought I'd lost you…again."

Again. A simple word but one that told Dean that Sam must have been remembering as well as brooding on the other times they'd been separated such as Dean's time in Hell, the whole Purgatory mess or the time Dean went with Crowley after the Mark of Cain mess.

Though if Dean allowed himself to be honest with himself much less Sam, this time had scared him more than nearly any other time except maybe his time in Hell.

He'd said yes because he knew Michael was his only shot to save his brother and Jack from Lucifer. Of course as Dean realized too late angels are still dicks and he honestly thought he'd die this time or never see Sam again.

His memories were blank mostly which concerned him but right then, right that moment as he felt the way Sam's broad shoulders had started to shake, Dean chose to focus not on what almost happened but what he still had.

"Never had any doubts, little brother," he said after coughing to clear his throat and his voice to try to cover his own emotions right then. "Now my doubts about if you've been taking care of my car? That's something else."

Sam's laugh was watery but happy as he felt Dean's arms tighten once more before starting to ease him back but noticed his brother's grip stayed on his upper arms while tired eyes looked at Sam's face more closely as if searching for something only Dean was aware of yet.

"I know better than to not take care of the Impala, Dean," Sam replied, giving his face a quick wipe to clear it. "No one has touched her but me and even then I really didn't want to drive her since it feels weird without you."

"Yeah, I know that feeling only too well, kiddo," Dean recalled the times he'd driven the car that was still more home to them than the bunker without Sam beside him and how weird it was for him. "So you've taken better care of the Impala than you have yourself by the way you look," he added with a raised eyebrow as he was finally able to take his first good look at his brother and understood their mother's earlier words. "Did your razor break by any chance?"

Rolling his eyes at the mild sarcastic question in regards to the beard that Sam had allowed to grow in his near obsession in locating Dean, he shook his head while finally allowing himself to take a step back from Dean but noticed his brother's fingers stayed close by his elbow and realized that Dean wasn't ready to lose the contact yet but knew from other times that they were both like that.

"No, it didn't break. I've just been busy," Sam returned, giving the room another look before reaching into his pocket for the keys that would always belong to his brother as far as Sam was concerned. "Ready to go back to the bunker?" he asked curiously; wanting to get Dean out of this place so they could hopefully start to distance themselves from whatever Michael had been doing while in control of his body.

Noticing Sam's choice of words told Dean that 'home' to Sam was still not the former Men of Letters bunker back in Lebanon, Kansas and right then if given a choice of picking a home, Dean knew he wouldn't have chosen it either.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said with a nod, clapping his hand to the back of Sam's neck to squeeze it tightly like he always had since they'd been kids. "We're making a run through a drive-right right?" he decided to ask as his body suddenly reminded him that while Archangels didn't need to eat, his body did and he was starving.

"Yep, double bacon cheeseburgers with extra onions and whatever else you want, Dean," Sam would cope with the smell of extra onions in the car so long as he could see his brother sitting beside him again. "Let's get out of here."

Dean paused a second to eye the headless bodies, jaw twitching as he tried to think what the hell the arrogant bastard from that other world had done while in control of him and what else might come back to be a threat to his brother when he chose to worry about that another day and focus that he was free and back where he belonged.

 **The End**


End file.
